Recent American History

1974-2000

From Michigan University of MI football Congress 1948-1973 1965 House Minority Leader 1963-4 Warren Commission Chosen by Nixon to be VP after

Spiro Agnew resigned Became president when Nixon

resigned in Aug. 1974

Gerald Ford 1974-1977

“I, Gerald R. Ford, President of

the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed…”

“Pardon Me”

Inflation plagued economy as high

as 11.2% (did drop to 5.3%) Attempted to tackle unemployment

and energy crisis Campaign Finance Reform (1974)

Domestic Policy

Kept Henry Kissinger as Secy. of State Continued Détente 1975 Helsinki Agreement which ratified European borders

& supported Human Rights Urged Congress to send resources to South Vietnam—government quickly collapses 1975 Mayaguez incident

Foreign Policy

“Sour odor of illegitimacy”

Comedian Chevy Chase

Ford in Salzburg

1976 Election

39th president (1977-1981) Naval officer Peanut Farmer from Georgia GA State Senator GA Governor 1971-75 Washington “outsider” Won election during nation’s bicentennial

Jimmy Carter

Created Department of Energy & Department of Ed. Energy crisis

Domestic policy

The 1973 oil embargo happened in October following the

United States' and Western Europe's support of Israel against Arab nations in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Iran being chief among those angered by western support of Israel. As a nation Iran stopped providing oil to the United States and Western Europe. In doing so, the oil pricing for the United States went from 3 dollars a barrel to 12 dollars a barrel, spurring gas rationing.

OPEC

A situation in which the inflation rate is high and the

economic growth rate slows down and unemployment remains steadily high.

Stagflation

“I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental

threat to American democracy. . . . I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. . . . “

Malaise: “A crisis of confidence”

Arab-Israeli conflict Camp David Accords, 1978

Foreign Policy

Anwar El Sadat (Egypt) & Meacham Begin (Israel) w/ President Carter

The treaty, signed by President Jimmy Carter and

Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, contained two parts; one promised an end to U.S. control of the canal beginning in 2000; Panama was to take over operation and defense of the canal. The neutrality component of the treaty gave the U.S. permanent authority to defend the canal if it were placed under threat as a neutral water passage.

Panama Canal Treaty 1977

The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between

Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian Revolution.

Iranian Hostage Crisis

The Ayatollah Khomeini

President Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary

Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

SALT II was the first nuclear arms treaty which assumed real reductions in strategic forces.

SALT II 1979

Six months after the signing, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and in September of the same year, the Soviet combat brigade deployed to Cuba was discovered. In light of these developments, the treaty was never formally ratified by the United States Senate.

The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow

Olympics was a part of a package of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

It preceded the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott carried out by the Soviet Union and other Communist friendly countries.

Int’l Politics & the Olympics

When he first left office, Carter's presidency was viewed

by most as a failure, now record appears mixed. Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale are the longest-living

post-presidential team in American history. 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Carter's presidential approval rating, which sat at 31% just

prior to the 1980 election, was polled in early 2009 at 64%. Carter's continued post-Presidency activities have also been favorably received.

Carter since his Presidency

Born 1911 in Illinois Actor who appeared in 50 films including Knute Rockne,

All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1940s and early 50s.

Reagan: Man & Actor

Reagan began his political career as a liberal Democrat,

admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an active supporter of New Deal policies.

In 1962 Reagan formally switched to the Republican Party, stating, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.”

Governor of California 1967-1975

Republican & Governor

Triumph of Conservatism

Reagan's presidency has been termed the "Reagan

Revolution," or the Age of Reagan in recognition of the political realignment both within and beyond the U.S. in favor of his brand of conservatism and his faith in free markets.

Reagan's economic policies, similar to supply-side economics and dubbed "Reaganomics," achieved a 25% cut in the federal personal income tax, moderate deregulation and tax reform, which he believed would remove barriers to efficient economic activity. After a sharp recession, a long period of high economic growth without significant inflation ensued.

Domestic policy

Following discovery of the first cases in 1981, it soon became clear

a national health crisis was developing. But President Reagan's response was "halting and ineffective," according to his biographer Lou Cannon.

Those infected initially with this mysterious disease -- all gay men -- found themselves targeted with an unprecedented level of mean-spirited hostility.

A significant source of Reagan's support came from the newly identified religious right and the Moral Majority, a political-action group founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. AIDS became the tool, and gay men the target, for the politics of fear, hate and discrimination. Falwell said "AIDS is the wrath of God upon homosexuals."

Reagan’s AIDS legacy

1984 Election

It was characterized by a strategy of "peace through

strength" followed by a warming of relations with the Soviet Union, and resulting in an end to the Cold War when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power.

As part of the policies that became known as the "Reagan Doctrine," the United States also offered financial and logistics support to the anti-communist opposition in central Europe and took an increasingly hard line against socialist and communist governments in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.

Foreign Affairs

History of the USSR (1922-1991) Perestroika: Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to

the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-80s. Perestroika is often argued to be a cause of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, and the end of the Cold War.

Glasnost: was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union changes & collapses

1988

1982 U.S. Marines to Lebanon 1983 car bomb kills 17 U.S. servicemen in Beirut 1983 invasion of Grenada 1986 Air raid against Libya

Foreign Affairs

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by

U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1983, to use ground- and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles

“Star Wars”

Iran Contra Affair 1986

During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan

administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.

Oliver North

Marine Colonel Oliver North Admiral John Poindexter at the NSC Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger

Indictments for key figures

1985: -- Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power in Soviet Union 1986: -- Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites 1986: -- Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear

missiles from Europe 1987: -- Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range

nuclear missiles by signing treaty 1989: -- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan 1989: -- China puts down protests for democracy; Poland becomes independent 1989: -- Hungary becomes independent 1989: -- Berlin Wall falls 1989: -- Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends

The End of the Cold War

Survived assassination attempt in 1st term Oldest president to serve Appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court (1st woman) Known as the “Teflon President” Brought glamour and respect back to Washington after Vietnam & Watergate Alzheimer's disease

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

Decorated naval aviator during WWII Elected to Congress 1966, 1968 Ambassador to UN Chairman of the RNC Envoy to China Director of the CIA Vice President 1981-1989 Wins 1988 race against M. Dukakis

Bush biography

Dukakis’ “Tank moment”

This publicity image of Michael Dukakis was taken to combat criticisms that he would be soft on issues of defense, but it backfired and seriously damaged his presidential campaign when many found it silly and unsubtle.

1988 Election Win

"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase

spoken by then American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination.

The impact of the election promise was considerable, and many supporters of Bush believe it helped Bush win the 1988 presidential election.

“Read my lips”

Space Station Freedom Americans With Disability Act 1990 Immigration Act of 1990 (increased legal immigration by 40%) Two Supreme Court Appointments (David Souter, 1990

and Clarence Thomas, 1991) S&L crisis involved the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations

Domestic Policy

Invasion of Panama to capture leader Manuel Noriega

1989 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, 1989 Gulf War I (1990-1991) after Saddam Hussein invades its

oil-rich neighbor Kuwait

Foreign Policy

Bush's administration, along with Canadian Prime

Minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would eliminate the majority of tariffs on products traded among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to encourage trade amongst the countries.

NAFTA

President Clinton

“I feel your pain.” “I still believe in a place called Hope.” “When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a

time or two -- and didn't like it -- and didn't inhale and never tried inhaling again.”

Ran on his centrist record as Governor of Arkansas TV ads were aired showing a clip of Bush's infamous 1988

campaign speech in which he promised "Read my lips ... No new taxes."

How Clinton won

Independent candidate

Ross Perot received 19,741,065 with 18.9 percent of the popular vote for President. The billionaire used his own money to advertise extensively, and is the only third-party candidate ever allowed into the nationally televised presidential debates with both major party candidates.

Ross Perot

Failed attempt at health care reform Don’t ask, don’t tell Signed the Defense of Marriage Act Family and Medical Leave Act Brady Bill (waiting period before hand gun purchase)

Domestic Policy

NAFTA becomes law Unsuccessful at capturing Osama Bin Laden Tried to get Ehud Barak of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the

Palestinian National Authority, to agree to a final settlement agreement.

Foreign Policy

Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of

Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999.

It was only the second impeachment of a President in American history, the other being that of

Andrew Johnson.

Impeachment

Election of 2000

And the winner is…